State legislation would give nod to 'Big Trash' over counties

Here we go again, Spartanburg County. Back in 2006, county residents resoundingly told Spartanburg County Council that we do not want another mega-dump here.

By SHELLEY ROBBINSFor the Herald-Journal

Here we go again, Spartanburg County.Back in 2006, county residents resoundingly told Spartanburg County Council that we do not want another mega-dump here. Currently, Spartanburg County is one of only two counties in South Carolina that host two municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. Wellford Landfill, the smaller of the two, is run by the county, paid for by county citizens through a reasonable $47 per year fee, receives very few complaints and accepts only waste generated inside the county.Palmetto Landfill, owned by Waste Management Inc. and visible from I-85 near Duncan, on the other hand, is the second largest in South Carolina, accepts waste from outside the county and state, and can be smelled from the interstate.When Waste Management proposed a replacement mega-dump for Palmetto on the Enoree River, Spartanburg County residents raised their voices so loudly that the final County Council meeting on the issue had to be moved to Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. Council listened and used the local authority it has under state law to tell Waste Management and the Department of Health and Environmental Control "No, thank You!" We won that battle, but the war rages on — this time in Columbia.The waste industry ("Big Trash") has drafted a fast-moving bill (H.3290) with a highly misleading name, the Business Freedom to Choose Act. The bill, in its current form, flies in the face of home rule and would essentially eliminate the traditional role and authority of South Carolina counties in the management of solid waste.Counties would no longer be able to decide the number, size and location of landfills and how and where waste is disposed of in their areas. With no assurance of minimum amounts of revenue, county-owned landfills, such as the Wellford one, would face the risk of shutting down and imposing huge financial burdens on taxpayers.Big Trash claims it just wants a level playing field. But currently, national private waste companies control 76 percent of the MSW in South Carolina. Big Trash is also responsible for all but 22 tons of the 583,406 tons of trash landfilled in South Carolina in 2012 from New York, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina, including human sewage sludge waste from New York that sits rotting in rail cars for weeks while on its way to Republic's landfill in Lee County.The corporate-owned mega-landfills are for-profit businesses that will not serve an area that is unprofitable. This includes many of the rural counties in South Carolina. The current bill will make it extremely difficult for local governments to handle locally generated waste when private industry won't serve an area that isn't a money-maker.But solid waste is a significant health and nuisance issue. It stinks, it harbors pathogens, and the heavy trucks carrying it can tear up roads. Who do you want dealing with these issues — elected County Council members or Big Trash?In addition, where corporate-desired but publicly funded landfills are sited near state borders (in the Upstate and the Aiken area), this bill has the potential to bankrupt those facilities by tying their hands, allowing them to be snapped up by Big Trash cheaply. If that happens, we no longer have "business freedom to choose" — we have a price and service monopoly by private companies but with no Public Service Commission-type oversight to make sure customers, neighborhoods and the environment aren't abused.Big Trash also would have the ability to force smaller private waste haulers out of business. For example, both Waste Management and Republic are in the hauling business and have no reason to welcome competition, especially when they already control the landfills.This bill has already passed the House and will be considered by the Senate very soon. Big Trash is spending millions in Columbia and telling your legislators whatever they need to hear to get this bill passed. But if passed, H.3290 will actually crush competition and everyone's freedom to choose, and it will dissolve the authority and oversight by our local elected leaders over a service you rely on. Big Trash already controls over three-quarters of all the waste in South Carolina. How can it be better for Big Trash to control even more when we are already known and treated as a dumping ground?Please contact Upstate senators today and tell them not to support H.3290, but rather to put the interests of South Carolina residents and small businesses ahead of Big Trash.Shelley Hudson Robbins tracks waste and recycling issues for Upstate Forever. She can be reached in the Spartanburg office at srobbins@upstateforever.org or 864-327-0090.

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